Stagehands making $400,000 strike at Carnegie Hall: In business

Stagehands that make more than $400,000 a year are striking at Carnegie Hall in New York City, the first strike ever at the famed concert hall.

The strike by members of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees canceled the venue's important season-opening concert featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra, superstar violinist Joshua Bell and vocalist Esperanza Spalding, Bloomberg reported.

The stagehands are demanding jurisdiction over a new upstairs education wing at the center, Bloomberg said.

Full-time stagehands at Carnegie Hall earned an average of $420,000 with overtime in 2011. No show goes on without them. They move equipment in and out of the building and prepare three stages for performances.

Carnegie seems to have decided to take a stand against the powerful union, refusing in contract talks to let the stagehands extend their sway to an educational wing to be opened next year above the hall, The New York Times reported. The new wing is to have 24 music rooms for practicing, teaching and holding events for children, the newspaper said.